


Crystalline Fire

by lorekeeperPandora



Category: Cuphead: Don't Deal with the Devil, Deltarune (ideas based on/from), Undertale (ideas based on/from), bendy and boris: the quest for the ink machine - Fandom
Genre: Actual Violence, Blood and Gore, Game Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions/Possible Feature of a Mental Illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-10 20:10:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20533898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorekeeperPandora/pseuds/lorekeeperPandora
Summary: You were dropped into an unfamiliar world without warning, leaving you with nothing but a mysterious charm and the ability to use magic. You spent the next year trying to figure out a way home, scouring the world in search of answers that could help you. One day whilst you were minding your own business, you encounter a pair of brothers asking for your help to fix the Ink Machine...





	Crystalline Fire

You trudged through Toon Town with slightly messy hair and a tired look upon your face. You were the living embodiment of every college student, tired and didn't have time to deal with bullshit of any kind. Yeah, you were twenty years old, but you weren't going to college or had to do anything related to that. It was just a state of existence that you were stuck in for eternity.

You were a traveller that doubled as a halftime adventurer, living a nomadic lifestyle in search of answers to otherwise crazy questions. Like _"How does one obtain the power to travel to other worlds?"_, that one jusy ended up raising more questions than it did give you answers.

You've looked high and low for answers, not finding anything of much use to you. You've searched through the libraries of every single town you came across if they had one. You've read through mythology books of all kinds, and all you managed to do was learn a whole lot about a variety of different mystical artifacts and magical creatures. Although you did take up a book on cartography, even purchasing a cartography set and a personal leather journal to write down your own notes and findings.

As you were heading back to your current place of residence, your ears perked upward to the sounds of music and laughter. Your nose twitched as it picked up the strong scent of buttery popcorn and sweet cotton candy. Your feet seemed to move on their own as you followed the carnival related sounds and smells until they lead you to a large, brightly colored circus tent. To your right, there was an equally bright poster with a picture of a vaguely familiar mouse amongst a field of tiny bunnies.

**Mickey Mouse's Fantastic Circus**   
_ **Live Performance in Toon Town on August 31 at 12pm!** _

Ah, so you _did_ recognize the mouse from the poster, and he was going to be in the parade today. You had a run in with one of their performers at one of their shows a while back, a black and white cat named Ortensia. You believe you also met her husband, a rabbit named Oswald and their multitude of children. Seriously, there were like 420 of them. You cracked a few cat puns at her, and she seemed to burst out laughing when hearing them. It felt nice to have someone laugh at your corny jokes, so you two left as friends and pen pals, mailing letters to one another every other week. Although, you haven't gotten a letter from her in a while. You wondered if it was because you moved around a lot, which it most likely was, but you could never be sure.

Either way, you thought you might as well stick around for the show. Looking down at the watch you had, you read the time.

_11:54am_

"Bendy, come on, let's--- oof!"

You felt a smaller body collide with your own, causing you to stagger a bit. You turned your head to see a younger wolf, around twelve years if you had to guess. Behind him was what appeared to be a demon, if you looked at his features you could deduce that he is a young adult at the bare minimum.

The wolf began apologizing. "I'm sorry miss! I didn't mean to run into you!"

You smiled and gave a dismissive wave. "It's fine, you didn't mean to," you said. "I assume you're just excited for the parade?"

He nodded vigorously, and you tilted your head at him. "You wanna stand here? I don't mind."

"Really? Thank you so much!" He said to you. "My name is Boris, and this is my older brother Bendy."

Oh, so they were brothers. You weren't really expecting that.

"Ruelle," you replied. "Pleased to meet ya."

The elder brother, Bendy, seemed to squint his eyes at you, focusing on the tattoos printed along your face and across your left shoulder. You don't remember getting any of them, but you've had them even back when you were human. They were tribal in nature, colored a light shade of purple amongst your milky white fur fur (you don't know how tattoos were applicable to fur but eh). His eyes then landed on the crystal blue lantern attached to your belt.

"Hey, this is a totally random question," Bendy started. "But where did you get that lantern?"

"Oh, this?" You gestured to the blue trinket dangling front your belt. "Got it from a town I visited a while back."

Bendy opened his mouth to ask more questions, but was cut off by his brother.

"Look, the show is starting!" Boris yelped, doing a little excited jumpy dance as the music began.

You didn't say anything else, your mind discarding the expression on his face and turning to watch the performance.

The show itself was spectacular, the plethora of tiny bunnies all performed better than professional you've seen, singing their hearts out alongside Mickey. You recognized them as Oswald and Ortensia's children, you would never understand how a woman, well, cat could have that many kids and still be standing. Speaking of which, you wondered when they would show up.

Until then, you were merely enjoying the performance with the two brothers. Boris was unbelievably excited, he was absolutely enthralled with the singing and dancing and lights. Bendy was just standing next to him with his arms crossed, also enjoying the visuals with a content look on his face. You had to resist the urge giggle every time Boris got even more excited, his tail was wagging incredibly fast, showing the boys' happiness.

"Huh," you said once the show had ended. "That's odd."

"What is it?" Bendy asked.

"I'm friend's with the magician's assistant, but I haven't seen either of them perform," you explained. "I wonder if they're sick."

Bendy shrugged nonchalantly, while Boris seemed excited.

"Wait, does that mean you've met Mickey?!" Boris asked you.

_Holy shit you think you saw stars in his eyes._

You rubbed your neck sheepishly. "We've spoken only once when I met Ortensia, and he sends me a letter whenever she does now and again," you explained. "He's a pretty outgoing guy, it's hard not to smile around him." 

"Do you think he would give me an autograph?" Boris asked hopefully.

You shrugged, but smiled. "I don't see why not, he loves seeing his fans happy."

"Can we go Bendy? Please?" He begged.

Bendy shrugged, but smiled, "I don't see why not."

The younger wolf cheered and you had all ended up heading for the performer's tents. You've met the entire crew at least once, still having all their names and faces in mind. You weren't sure if Mickey would remember you at all, but it was still worth a shot.

You stepped into the tent first, finding the mouse in a white tank top and some grey sweat pants, having just changed out of his show clothes.

"Sup Mick," you greeted, waving at the mouse as the two brothers had followed you inside. "Long time no see."

"Ruelle? Is that you?" The mouse stood up, quickly engulfing you in a hug. "It's so good to see you!"

You wasted no time returning the hug, although you had to bend down a bit to meet his height. You savored the warmth for a moment before you both released each other, having him smile at you.

"How have you been?" He asked you not even a second after. "It's been over six months."

"I've been aight, I've just been going sightseeing, met some cool people, had a life threatening adventure, bought some sugar cookies from a cute bakery," you replied. "You know, the usual."

Mickey had then taken noticed of the people trailing behind you. "And who are they? Friends of yours?"

"Met them just before your show started, great job by the way," you said, giving Mickey a congratulatory shoulder punch. "This is Bendy and his younger brother Boris. Boris actually wanted to ask you something."

Boris went from excited fluff to a stuttering mess, holding out a pen and some paper. "Y-yes, I-I-I... um, could y-you..."

"He wants your autograph," Bendy had cut in, answering for his brother, Boris nodding his head quickly.

"Of course! It'd be my pleasure," Mickey took the paper and one from Boris's hands and signed his name in fancy cursive in one smooth motion, before handing it back. "Here you go, did you two enjoy the show?"

Boris answered quickly. "Heck yeah we did!"

Bendy shrugged but smiled. "Eh, it was okay."

"Speaking of which, I noticed that Oswald and Ortensia didn't perform today," you said to Mickey. "Are they all right? I haven't gotten a letter in a while."

Mickey's body stiffened, and he looked up at you in surprise and concern. "You don't know?"

You arched a brow questioningly. "Know what?"

Just then, a small high-pitched voice broke through your thoughts.

"Uncle Mickey!" You turned your head to see one of the small blue bunnies trotting in with Oswald in tow. "Uncle Goofy and I are going shopping, and we're taking Papa with us. Need anything?"

Mickey simply smiled and leaned down to ruffle the fur on the child's head. "Just take care of your father for me, okay?"

"Ok!"

"Oswald?" The rabbit had moved his head up to meet your gaze. "What happened? Where's Ortensia?"

_"UGHHH!!"_

You all whipped your heads around to see Bendy collapsing, a black liquid dripping down his face. A putrid smell invaded your nose, your eyes widening as you sucked in a sharp breath through your teeth.

You've seen this before, only once though. A disease that claimed the lives of many in over the last two decades. The Ink Illness.

You remembered Ortensia mentioning it before when you first met...

Realization hit you like a goddamn bullet train.

"Donald, take Ozzy and his kid away, please!" Mickey urged.

That's when you noticed that a duck had come in not a few moments after, looking around in confusion. "What's going on here?" He asked, holding onto the broken rabbit and the crying child.

_"Not now Donald!"_

All that filled your ears were the sounds of Bendy's agonized wails, as he doubled over into Boris's arms, looking as if he was melting. You could've sworn you heard Mickey saying your name, but your mind didn't register it in any useful way for you to move your body to respond.

Had you been in a do or die situation right now, you would have been long gone.

The crying Bendy had already been moved to one of the makeshift beds in the tent, having been given a bucket to vomit up an alarming amount of ink into. Boris was trying his best to comfort his brother, hugging him close and holding his hand reassuringly. You were standing beside Mickey, who was holding a towel and looking at Boris sadly. You knew that look, it was the same look he gave you when he heard that you had no real home. He was a good man, er, mouse, and would try his best to help whoever needed it, even when there wasn't much he could do that would actually help.

From what you've heard, the Ink Illness was fatal, and judging from hints you picked up from Ortensia's absence, you assumed it had claimed her life as well as it has done to many others. Sometimes it took a year, but in most cases it took several, and occassionally it even took decades. Years of suffering from vomiting up ink and your body feeling like it was going to fall apart, making you feel like death was a much better option than sitting through the pain. It must have absolute torture to endure...

...probably even more so to watch someone you love slowly die away in pain and agony.

"I'm sorry if I ruined your first impression, Boris," Bendy said finally, only after the attack had settled down for the time being.

"Haha, you're so silly Bendy," Boris said, his tail wagging weakly as a sign of his own anxiousness. "As if I care about that right now."

You moved to stand beside Boris, ducking your head to peer around to see his brother's face. You observed the demon's features, now the ink was gone, it was replaced with sweat from his body heating up in panic from the attack.

"Are you still in pain?" You had asked him. "If so, I can help ease it if you'd like."

"It's fine, I'm okay," Bendy replied. "Sorry for making you worry."

"It's not your fault, it just surprised me is all," you said to him. "I've heard of it from a friend who had it, but I've never actually seen the kind of effects it had on someone. It's... _terrifying_, to say the least."

Boris had then turned around to look at Mickey. "Thanks for everything Mr. Mickey, I don't know how---"

Mickey had interrupted his sentence by engulfing him in a full blown bear hug, holding the wolf close and muttered, _"I'm so sorry..."_ Your lips curled in an amused smiled as you saw Boris' cheeks light themselves on fire.

_"bARK!"_

Okay, you couldnt hold it in anymore, you had barked out a laugh when Boris had, well, _barked_.

Bendy also let out a small chuckle. "Looks like you didn't need my help to ruin things for ya bud."

"Got a cute bark there pup," you commented. "Guess you found that hug quite _puptastic_ to elicit that kind of response."

Bendy stopped for a moment to think about what you just said, before laughing. _"That was so bad!"_

You only smiled and shrugged. "I'll have you know that I'm _pawsitive_ that my jokes will have you _howling_," you said. "But if you were looking for some better jokes, I can say that you're definitely _barking_ up the right tree."

He just laughed harder, nothing was better to brighten the mood than a couple of cheesy puns. At least he seemed to appreciate the jokes you made, you've picked up the knack from your mother's lazy friend back at your old home. His brother said that he despised it, but you saw the smiles on his face when he thought nobody was looking.

Ah, those were the good ol' days.

You hadn't noticed that Mickey and Boris were talking behind some flaps that connected this tent to the another. You could still pick up a few words here and there, but the rest of the conversation was pretty muffled. You got the gist of it though, Mickey was offering Boris a place in the circus when Bendy died from the Illness.

This disease was not a matter of _probability_, but a matter of _eventuality_. There was no _if_, only _when_, because there was no cure for the Ink Illness, none that was available in this day and age. Except for one, but you were told it was just a myth, a tall tale that gave people something, a sense of hope, to hold onto.

"Hey Ruelle?"

You were broken out of your thoughts to see Bendy staring at you intently.

"Yes?"

"Remember when I asked you about that lantern earlier?" he asked.

You gave a reaffirming nod, remembering that he seemed to have more questions, but had been interrupted by show before he could.

"Well, there is actually a reason I did," he began. "I know you just met me, but please, bare with me here."

You gave him a questioning glance, but crossed your arms and gave him your full attention.

"I'm listening."

He took a deep breath, before exhaling slowly. He began telling you a story, about a legend of the Ink Machine. It was said that its power could cure the Ink Illness when it was still around, but when the illness hadnt appeared for what was basically centuries, the people saw that there was no need for it anymore. When the illness suddenly appeared again, people had gone to the machine only to find that it was too rusted and broken down, having been left for so long without any sort of maintenance within recent years. It just wasn't going to work with the condition in was in. Bendy then told you a while back that him and Boris were given a magical map by an angel that would tell them where to find parts to fix said machine, but only they could see it.

How this was revelant to you was when he said the angel who'd given them the map, also told them to search for, and you quote, _"the horned beast with a lantern by her side and tattoos on her body, she is bound by fate to help you find the ink machine parts you seek."_ The form you took on was actually a strange mix of a goat and a wolf of sorts, and there was actually a tattoo going from your left shoulder, down diagonally across your back, and down to settle onyour right hip. The tattoo itself depicted the tribal version of a moonflower surrounded by silver swirls of violet flames.

The words the brothers were given were all too cryptic, just as it was supposed to be judging from the origins of the map.

"So lemme get this straight," you started. "What you're telling me, is that I'm supposed to help you find parts to an old rust bucket, which are hidden in dangerous dungeons that the magic map tells you they're in?"

Bendy nodded. "I know it sounds crazy, but you gotta believe me," he pleaded.

"All right, let's say that I'm inclined to believe you," you began. "Though I can't say that I completely trust you, as you said, I just met you and I haven't yet deduced what kind of person you or your brother are. But from what I've seen you're just another pair looking for some hope to save each other, and I can understand that."

Bendy looked hopeful, his lips curling into a small smile at the answer you gave him. You caught onto it, and held your paw up to stop him from getting any more hopeful, and continued on before he got too excited.

"I didn't say yes, but I didn't say no either. I don't know, just... give me some time to mull it over, and I'll see if I get back to you on that tomorrow?"

Bendy nodded once more, understanding where you were coming from. The world was just as cruel and unforgiving as it was back in yours, trust could not be given freely because it end up hurting you or even the ones you loved if you weren't careful.

You also had other things to take care of, like talking to Oswald. Meanwhile, Bendy had gotten dressed and called Boris to go find a place to stay for the night. You heard the sound of footsteps and saw Donald come back in.

"Donald?"

Said duck turned around to look at you. "Ruelle?" He asked. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to pay some Ortensia and Oswald a visit, but it seems only one of them is available," you said, frowning softly. "Is it okay if I go talk to Oswald?"

"You can try," Donald replied. "His kids are trying to comfort him now, he's in the next tent over."

You thanked him, leaving the current tent and making a beeline toward Oswald's tent. You stood in front of a slightly discolored tent, taking a deep breath, you stepped inside...

...hoping for some form of closure.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a silly idea I've decided to put up on here since it's been on my mind for a little while. Updates will be random, as this will be a bit of a side thing, but it might change in the future. Either way, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed what you read.


End file.
